A brief status hearing was held Tuesday morning for Lawrence Reed, the man accused of setting a woman on fire aboard a CTA Blue Line train in November.
Reed, 50, faces federal terrorism charges in connection with the attack, in which prosecutors say he ignited 26-year-old Bethany MaGee, leaving her critically injured. During the roughly five-minute hearing at the Dirksen Federal Building, a judge checked in with both prosecutors and defense attorneys to discuss the next steps in the case.
Prosecutors told the court they are continuing to collect evidence and expect to turn over an initial batch by the end of the week, followed by a larger set within the next month. Defense attorneys said they are in the process of obtaining Reed’s mental health records.
Another status hearing is scheduled for March 12 at 10 a.m.
According to prosecutors, the attack occurred on Nov. 17 when Reed allegedly approached MaGee on a CTA Blue Line train, poured a liquid on her, and set her on fire. MaGee survived but was engulfed in flames and suffered critical injuries.
Court records also allege that three days earlier, on Nov. 14, Reed set fire to City Hall. Prosecutors say he “maliciously damaged and attempted to damage and destroy” the building by using fire.
Reed was arrested on Nov. 18 and has remained in federal custody since then. He was formally charged in November with committing a terrorist attack, a charge that carries a potential maximum sentence of life in prison.
WGN-TV later reported that Reed is a career offender who had been arrested more than 70 times prior to the alleged attack on MaGee. He has 13 convictions in Cook County and was on pretrial release with electronic monitoring from an August case at the time of the Nov. 17 incident.
The alleged attack also reignited criticism from some Illinois leaders over the SAFE-T Act, which was signed into law in 2021. The legislation includes reforms related to pretrial detention, allows individuals on electronic monitoring to leave home for essential tasks, and eliminated cash bail for non-violent, low-level offenses.
The Nov. 17 incident was one of several recent high-profile attacks on the CTA that prompted the Federal Transit Administration to require the agency to develop and implement a comprehensive safety plan or risk losing up to $50 million in federal funding. The CTA’s initial proposal was rejected last month, and the agency now has less than 60 days to submit a revised plan.